Miami Heat praise Goran Dragic, James Johnson for playing through pain

Heat’s Goran Dragic, with left elbow wrapped, is caught between the Pelicans’ DeMarcus Cousins and Ian Clark during New Olreans’ victory in Miami on Saturday. (AP Photo/Joel Auerbach)

Wayne Ellington had two words for Goran Dragic and James Johnson following Saturday’s game against New Orleans.

“I told both of them, ‘Thank you,’” the Heat guard said.

Two of the Miami Heat tri-captains shook off the pain to return for Saturday’s game against New Orleans. Both were in discomfort, Dragic from his strained left (shooting) elbow and Johnson from the bursitis in his right ankle.

“I appreciate it because they’re still going through some pain,” Ellington said. “They wanted to be there for the team tonight. They sacrificed. That’s huge for us. Obviously, they’re not themselves yet. Them just giving that effort to come out there means everything for us.”

The feeling in the Heat locker room after their 109-94 setback to the Pelicans was Dragic and Johnson were on the floor because the team needed them. Having lost Dion Waiters, who re-sprained his problematic left ankle 24 hours prior, added to the long list of injured players.

And the comments appear to speak loudly about one of those players who was not in uniform.

Here are what Dragic and Johnson said about returning before they are 100 percent:

“I talked to the doc and the pain is there. It is what it is. It’s not the first time I’m playing through the pain. I’m going to try to be there for my teammates and try to do what I can and that’s it, end of story. Try to do treatments and be professional,” – Dragic.

“I mean, if you ask any of the guys that there’s a lot of lingering discomfort, pain around this team. So it’s take it however your threshold of pain can last,” – Johnson.

Contrast that to what Hassan Whiteside said the day it was announced he has another bone bruise on his left knee:

“Just wait until it’s totally healed. I think I kind of rushed it before, so just wait until I’m totally 100 percent. So, I don’t want to come back and be a watered-down Hassan and people looking at you crazy like, ‘What’s wrong with Hassan? Why is he not playing at this level?’ or whatever. I don’t even want to risk that.” – Hassan Whiteside.

Whiteside played Nov. 28 in Cleveland before sitting out the next night in New York because of a sore left knee. The next day the Heat announced he had suffered a different bruise from the one that forced him to miss five games early in the season but on the same knee and he would miss a minimum of one week but it could be at least two.

The day after that the man who signed a $98 million contract 18 months ago announced he would not play until he is completely pain free.

Coach Erik Spoelstra says Whiteside is making “a lot of progress,” since the center started working on the court a week and a half ago. Whiteside is increasing his court work while working out twice a day, one of those strictly on his conditioning. In other words, he’s getting close but not quite 100 percent.

And that’s not to say Whiteside won’t suddenly appear in uniform soon, perhaps even Tuesday when the Heat return (17-16) from their two-day Christmas break to face the fading Magic (11-23).

Here is what Spoelstra said when asked specifically about Dragic.

“The guys were really grateful for Goran,” he said. “It just shows you what kind of warrior he is and the respect that he has in the locker room. Yeah, he felt it a few times, because he’s so aggressive. You can’t go out there and say, ‘Well, I’m going to protect my elbow,’ and then all of a sudden he’s the Tasmanian devil on those drives. There’s going to be collisions, guys are swiping at him. But he made it through it and I think the couple of days will be, as well.”

The game was painful, in more ways than one, for Dragic and Johnson. Primarily, the Heat’s brief surge of momentum was halted with the loss. But Dragic acknowledged most of his shots were short, a result of the difficulty he’s having fulling extending his arm. He was 5-of-15 while gutting through 30 minutes. And Johnson played eight minutes before re-aggravating his injury. He did not return, spending the rest of the first half on the bench with his right ankle wrapped in ice and the second half in the locker room receiving treatment.

As soon as Spoelstra saw Johnson start limping he made his decision the forward would not return. And Johnson was productive in his short stint, scoring seven points while making all three of his shots.

“Thankfully we’ll have a couple of days just to get some treatment and rest and we’ll go from there,” Spoelstra said.